Sweetcorn Fritoritos
The delicious little Cuban snacks are great with a rum cocktail or a beer. The Cubans like them savoury, but those with a sweet tooth may like to try them with sugar instead of salt. Dip your teaspoon in cold water before you put it in the sweetcorn batter, to help the mixture slip off easily into the hot oil.
2 boiled cobs sweetcorn or 1 × 200gcan sweetcorn, drained 1 egg 2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves pinch of salt, plus extra to serve (optional) 2–4 tbsp plain flour ½ tbsp double cream, if needed sunflower oil, for deep-frying
If using corn cobs, cut the corn from the cobs by standing eachcob on its stalk end and running a large knife down the sides.Put the corn – boiled or canned – in a blender or food processorwith the egg, coriander and a pinch of salt. Add 2 tbsp of the flour.Whizz briefly to get a paste, adding the cream or more flour ifnecessary. You want a stiff paste that will form easily into balls.
Pour enough oil into a medium saucepan to come halfway up thesides, then place it over a medium heat until the temperature ona cook’s thermometer is 190°C/375°F, or until a little nugget of thefritorito batter goes pale gold in about 45 seconds when droppedinto the oil.
Gently drop teaspoonfuls of the paste into the hot oil, 4–5 at atime, and fry, turning over once or twice, until the fritoritos aregolden brown on the outside and cooked within. Do not overcrowdthe pan; you’ll have to do these in batches. Drain on kitchen paperto remove any excess oil, and keep warm while you finish the rest.To serve, squeeze over a little lime juice and dust either with sugaror extra salt.
Serve the wings with the caramelized oranges and chargrilled chillies.
